EPA's "the air is safe" assurances

Timeline

1. 12 Sep 2001 · Context

   An email from the EPA Deputy Administrator's Chief of Staff to senior EPA officials says: "All statements to the media should be cleared through the NSC [National Security Council] before they are released."

2. 16 Sep 2001 · It worked

   EPA issues a press release drafted on 14 September. The Inspector General found that every change the CEQ contact suggested was made: cautionary statements about asbestos found in dust samples were deleted or revised and reassuring sentences were added, such as a quote from OSHA's John Henshaw that "it is safe for New Yorkers to go back to work".

3. 18 Sep 2001 · It worked

   EPA's press release quotes the Administrator: "I am glad to reassure the people of New York and Washington, D.C. that their air is safe to breath [sic]". Region 2 officials later told the Inspector General the statement applied only to asbestos, outdoor air, healthy adults, the general public and long-term effects, but the press releases generally did not carry those qualifications, apart from the distinction between the public and Ground Zero workers.

4. 3 Oct 2001 · It worked

   A press release is headed "Data Confirms No Significant Public Health Risks; Rescue Crews and Nearby Residents Should Take Appropriate Precautions".

5. 21 Aug 2003 · Exposed

   The Inspector General reports that when EPA announced on 18 September that the air was "safe", it lacked data for several pollutants including particulate matter and PCBs, and that CEQ influenced the early press releases. It also states: "we found no evidence that EPA attempted to conceal data results from the public."

6. Aug 2003 · Exposed

   EPA's Acting Administrator replies that coordinating with CEQ was neither unusual nor unexpected during a catastrophe on this scale, and that EPA acknowledges mistakes were made. The Inspector General answers: "It continues to be our opinion that there was insufficient information to support the statement."

The public heard a blanket assurance that the air was safe; the agency's own watchdog later found the data did not support it and that the cautions had been edited out.

“The White House Council on Environmental Quality influenced, through the collaboration process, the information that EPA communicated to the public through its early press releases when it convinced EPA to add reassuring statements and delete cautionary ones.”

The playbook

1. 1

   Borrowed authority

   The assurance was issued under the EPA Administrator's name and carried the weight of the agency responsible for environmental safety.

2. 2

   Win before the facts

   The "safe" message went out on 18 September, before monitoring results for many pollutants were in and without health benchmarks for asbestos and others.

3. 3

   Suppress the correction

   Cautionary lines, on asbestos levels, health effects and professional cleaning of indoor spaces, were removed from draft releases at the CEQ contact's direction.

Through the FATE framework

• Focus4/10

  The message was narrow and repeated: the air is fine, go back to work. The Inspector General notes competing aims, including reopening Wall Street.

• Authority7/10

  It rested on the EPA Administrator and the agency's standing, with OSHA quoted alongside.

• Tribe2/10

  It addressed residents and workers as a general public, with little in-group framing.

• Emotion5/10

  It was reassurance aimed at fear, days after the attacks.

Propaganda techniques used

• Appeal to Authority
• Exaggeration/Minimisation
• Obfuscation/Vagueness

Same playbook today